A Sociological Analysis of “OK Boomer”

Abstract

The year 2019 was the year of “OK Boomer” (OKb). From The New York Times to the New Zealand legislature, OKb emerged as a pop cultural phenomenon. For some, this phrase represents a battle of the generations wherein Baby Boomers are fed up with the utopian demands of younger generations, while younger generations see Baby Boomers as stubbornly conservative and out of touch. Alternatively, some dismiss the generational warfare trope and demand we see society for what it “really is”—one defined by class warfare. By deploying theories of politics, ideology, and cultural change from Mark Fisher, Fredric Jameson, Slavoj Žižek, and Franco Berardi, we offer a theoretical framework through which the emergence and proliferation of OKb can be understood. We find OKb to be embedded within the logic of capitalist realism, where younger generations’ cynical usage of this meme represents a muddled attempt to cognitively map within 21st century postmodernity.

Patterns of Implicit and Explicit Attitudes: IV. Change and Stability From 2007 to 2020

“…One possibility is the increase in negative information that has emerged regarding the elderly and their vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic (Fraser et al, 2020), but this is implausible given that attitude change commenced in late 2016, prior to the onset of the pandemic. Instead, we speculate that the shift in anti-elderly explicit attitudes may be spurred, in part, by a growing generational war between younger (e.g., millennial, Gen Z) and older (e.g., baby boomer) age groups—a conflict that increased throughout 2016 to 2019 and culminated in memes such as “OK boomer” (a retort to perceived traditional beliefs of the baby-boomer generation; Mueller & McCollum, 2022). This generational conflict incorporates the belief among younger people (and particularly among younger liberals) that elderly people stand in the way of necessary progress on issues such as economic inequality, climate change, and racial injustice.…”

“Older, Entitled, and Extremely Out-of-Touch”: Does “OK, Boomer” Signify the Emergence of a New Older Adult Stereotype?

“…An editorial prefacing the February 2020 issue of Academic Questions , titled “Don’t ‘OK Boomer’ Us,” defines the phrase as a way for younger generations to dismiss older generations’ infinite nagging (Iannone, 2020). A sociological analysis of the phrase suggested that it may be an expression of generational tensions, wherein Baby Boomers are frustrated with the idealism of younger adults while in turn are mocked for being “stubbornly conservative and out-of-touch” (Mueller & McCollum, 2022). Although the concept of “generational warfare” is far from novel, the added complexity of this latest iteration suggests that to younger adults, “Boomers” might symbolize the cause of systemic socioeconomic inequality; an aptly stated “OK, Boomer” could shut down intergenerational communication to the detriment of greater understanding for all (Iannone, 2020; Mueller & McCollum, 2022).…”